thip65390's Passions

thip65390's Bio

Familiarity:
I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

I purchased this mat because of the great reviews. I am an officer with the air cadets and take teens out regularly for survival training and bush exercises. I took this on a hike at the Juan de Fuca Trail and I was really impressed. I have a tendency, like most women to get really sore hips when I sleep on a thermarest but with the Exped, I didn't feel the ground or a single rock underneath me. I actually felt comfortable. What really pleased me was the weight and packed size of the Exped (Med size). The comfort to weight ratio was absolutely worth it and I am not a large person so I'm pretty fussy about how much I can bring. The only one thing I noticed was on one trip in Manning Park, I shared a tent and since I roll a lot when I'm sleeping, the mat did make pretty loud squeaking noises, waking my tentmate. I have not used it in the snow yet but I will. I have a winter survival training weekend with the cadets where we will stay in snow caves and another 6 day winter training in Northern Alberta. I'll will update you then but I know this mat will be better than anything I've had before.